Beating the bordom

smartman213 said:

Anyone got any good ways to beat the bordom of riding on an indoor trainer this winter. I live in Ohio so we have pretty harsh winters and very few dailight hours so i have to do most of my winter riding inside. After 20 minutes or so it gets pretty dull. Any ideas to spice it up abit.

The only way i find works for me is interval training - even if you're only doing low intensity base miles, i'd still throw some intervals in. I find this structures the workout and stops the boredom. In either case, 1.5hrs is about all i can handle on a trainer. Otherwise, TdF or some other cycling video's also help.

But i live in Melbourne Australia and even at its worst, it's still ok to go out and ride.....how you feel about moving countries😄

Dini77 said:

The only way i find works for me is interval training - even if you're only doing low intensity base miles, i'd still throw some intervals in. I find this structures the workout and stops the boredom. In either case, 1.5hrs is about all i can handle on a trainer. Otherwise, TdF or some other cycling video's also help.

But i live in Melbourne Australia and even at its worst, it's still ok to go out and ride.....how you feel about moving countries😄

Wish i could move somewhere nice...and warm...and hilly...but sense im only 15 im stuck in the flat tundra of a winter, ohio. Yeah i've been doin intervals and they are good at breakin up the workout. I think i still have some of the stages of the TdF on my tivo. I'll have to bust um out

I like to put on music (I prefer classic rock), and it's important that I don't know the sequence of songs. I do intervals, alternating with each song between intervals at 120%FT and recovery at 55%FT. Since I don't know what they're going to play, each interval duration is unknown. Most songs are 3-5 mins in length, but one of these days I'm going to get blindsided if the DJ decides to play "Mountain Jam" from The Allman Brothers Band "Eat A Peach" album (34 mins).😄

Definitely watching the TDF races is a good way to kill the boredom. Sometimes I feel like I'm actually right there climbing the Pyrenees and the Alps with Basso, Ullrich, and LA over my shoulder. This one time I felt pretty strong while those three were showing signs of weakness, so I sprinted away from them for an awesome stage win!!! My g/f came in just as I was crossing the finish line celebrating the victory and told me I was the biggest dork she's ever seen or heard about, but I was like "whatever". It was pretty sweet. Anyway, makes the time pass quickly and is good motivation to keep chugging.

I mix in using Spinerval DVDs as they provide a structure to follow, and tend to keep boredom at bay. I don't use them for all my indoor training, but I do find they make the time go faster.

i like to watch nascar races that i missed during my training rides. also like my tunes. put on mindless tv with the radio headphones just to have something on the visual.

Watch "Breaking Away" over...and over...and over...and over...and over...
Cutters!

Or listen to NPR.

All good responses so far for beating boredom on the trainer. But how about trying to ride outside once in a while? If you don't have a lot of money, just get a cheapo mountain bike (ie, $400 or so), then invest in a pair or studded tires. You can ride in just about anything then. Where I live, we have ice-covered roads from January til sometime in March, and lots of snow to boot. If I did all my training inside, I'd go nuts and lose motivation before long.
On another note, have you ever tried x-country skiing or speed-skating? These carry over to cycling quite well, as they use a lot of the same muscles.

smartman213 said:

Anyone got any good ways to beat the bordom of riding on an indoor trainer this winter. I live in Ohio so we have pretty harsh winters and very few dailight hours so i have to do most of my winter riding inside. After 20 minutes or so it gets pretty dull. Any ideas to spice it up abit.

Loud Loud music, and you also have to enjoy hurting yourself.

smartman213 said:

Anyone got any good ways to beat the bordom of riding on an indoor trainer this winter. I live in Ohio so we have pretty harsh winters and very few dailight hours so i have to do most of my winter riding inside. After 20 minutes or so it gets pretty dull. Any ideas to spice it up abit.

Tell me about it. I can't do any kind of cardio indoors....treadmill...stationary bike...etc. After 10 minutes I want to slit my wrists....it's just not the same.

However, I'll bike outside till my legs won't go anymore....I don't seem to get bored ever.

I'm praying there is no snow in DE this winter.

Spineverals dude.

The other thing, buy some tires with some tread, and some cold weather gear to get out when the weather permits. The weather here gets down right disgusting and it slows just about no one down...

One word...TiVo. 😉